"Harder Before it is Easier"

There is a principle of life that we learn early on, but as adults we seem hard pressed to remember. That principle is this: It is harder before it gets easier. As young children we may not be able to say this, but we certainly accept it. None of us would have learned to walk, talk, feed ourselves or to use the potty had we not accepted that it is harder before it gets easier. However, when we become adults it is as though we forget or refuse to accept the reality of this principle. For instance, if you choose to join me in these days of Lent leading up to Easter in taking off the blindfold and seeing what you do not want to see about yourself, your life or your world, you will fully experience this principle at work: Its harder before its easier.

Giving God permission to help us see what we have been trying to avoid and then actually being obedient to what he says to do about it is never easy. In fact, the first step or two you take in that direction will mostly likely be incredibly difficult. You will probably even stir up pain and discomfort that you did not even realize was there and be tempted to put back on the blind fold. But remember, had you done that as a baby you wouldn't be able to walk or urinate by yourself today. Just because it is harder before it gets easier does not mean it won't eventually get easier. It will get easier...change is possible...freedom can be your reality...love wins...truth does set us free, but the difference between those who see it happen and those who don't is the difference between those who accept that it is harder before it gets easier and press on until they see pain give way to healing.

I have heard from some of you this week. You have shared a blindfold you have removed. You have described some initial steps you are taking to see what you have tried to ignore. Now, I encourage you: Don't give up at the first sign of resistance. Resistance always precedes a breakthrough. You had the courage to let God take off the blindfold, so don't settle for less than the truth and freedom God promises you will find at the cross.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" James 1:2-4.

God does not want you to lack anything! Keep the blindfold off and press on no matter how much harder it is before it gets easier!

"Did You Notice that It Snowed?"

I don't know if you noticed or not, but we have a pretty good snow covering. Have you noticed the snow?

"What kind of question is that?" you ask.

"How could anyone not notice the snow?" you wonder.

"For the past few weeks all we have seen is snow and you ask, 'Have I noticed
the snow?' Of course, I've noticed the snow...all I can see is snow," you
shout back.

Now before you conclude, I have completely lost touch with reality, let me explain. The above question, as you would suspect, has nothing to do with snow. It has everything to do with God. God is as real and present in our life as the snow that we can see everywhere at this moment. And to not recognize God with us every moment of every day is as absurd as asking you if you had noticed that it had snowed.

The psalmist writes, "Where can I go from your presence? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" Psalm 139:7-10.

God is everywhere I can think to go says the psalmist. However, while we can't miss the snow, who doesn't find it hard to NOT miss God's presence in the routine of every day life?

It is for that reason, that I particularly appreciate this season of the Christian calendar. Lent is 40 days of intentional and focused "noticing." It is about noticing God's personal, powerful presence in our every day lives so that when Easter rolls around it won't just be another holiday of family gatherings and egg hunts, but will be truly and undeniably life-changing.

I invite you to join us tonight for our Ash Wednesday service at 7 PM as we begin this journey of noticing. Then walk with us each Sunday morning for our message series, "At the Cross," to discover what is to be found at the cross that we cannot find any place else.

"Open?"

Today in my personal time with God, I read Matthew 13. When I read the Bible, I watch for a word, phrase or sentence to stand out to me, then I stop reading and spend time talking and listening to God about it. This morning, I focused in on these words of Jesus, "For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them."

In those words, Jesus is referring to the people of God. As a Follower of Christ, I am asked to hear his words to his people for myself. He forces me to consider whether or not I am open to him. Have my ears become shut and my eyes closed to his Spirit? As I prayed about this, he brought to my mind an issue in which I did not want to hear from him. I wanted to deal with it myself. I wanted to think what I thought and not hear what he thinks. It was not enjoyable to have to admit that I was closing myself off to his spirit in that issue of my life. I was strongly resisting him.

Then I read the last line again, "Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them." What was I resisting by not letting God speak to that issue? I was resisting his healing. All Jesus wants to do is bring me healing and I am closing my ears and eyes to that? Why would i ever resist letting God give me something good?


"God, forgive me I prayed. I want to be open. Speak to me." He did. It was uncomfortable...it was difficult...but when it was done, I experienced his peace and freedom. That which had a hold of me was released, so that Jesus could carry me.

Regularly, we must honestly evaluate our present openness to Jesus. Christianity is not a religion we can shelf between Sundays, it is a relationship in which Jesus must be free to invade any part of our lives at any time.

Is there any part of your life in which Jesus is not welcome? Is there any part of your lifestyle Jesus is not given permission to speak to? Is there any relationship that you have closed your eyes to seeing what God wants you to see? Is there any good God is asking you to do that you have don not want to recognize? Are you open to the Holy Spirit's ongoing healing, freeing, maturing work in your life?

"A New Thing"

When this time of year rolls around, I think of Isaiah 42:9, in which God says, "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."

The first part of that verse speaks volumes: "See, the former things have taken place." God is asking us to "see", to recognize, to take note of what has taken place. Sometimes we run so fast through life that we do not pause to look back and see what has transpired in a day or a year. What do you look back and see in 2009?

"The former things have taken place." All those things you can see when you look back have taken place. It is what it is. Look back to see them, but don't look back to try dwell on them. I don't know about you, but sometimes I hold onto what was as though it still is. Acceptance is the healthy way of handling the past. Acceptance sees the pleasant moments of the past, smiles and says, "Those were good days. Thank you, God, for being with me in them!" Acceptance sees the unpleasant moments of the past, cries and says, "Those were difficult days. Thank you, God, for being with me through it." Acceptance allows life to be what it is, sometimes wonderful and sometimes horrible, but it refuses to hang on to either one as though it will always be...it simply acccepts what was as it was.

Then, acceptance opens the door to embrace a new thing. It is hard to receive something new from God when I insist on holding on to something old. OUr God is a God of the new! New beginnings, fresh starts and clean slates are his expertise. Let him speak to you through these words, "and new things I declare." He wanst to declare a new thing for you! Will you let him? Will you give yoruslef permission to anticpate what new thing God has for you this New Year?

"Before they spring into being I announce them to you." God has already set them in motion...they are coming...he is telling you so your heart and mind and hands can be wide open to receive them. Expect..Hope...Pray...Seek...and then watch God do what he does best...He brings about the new! Happy New Year!

"I Believe"

Luke 1:37 says, "For Nothing is impossible with God." If you have been around Living Hope anytime at all you know that is one of my favorite verses from the Bible's Christmas account. But you probably do not know that every once in a while I ask myself, "Do you really believe that?" It may sound odd for a Pastor to ask such a question, but the truth is in my position it is dangerously easy to do get so use to saying the right thing that you say it more than you believe it.

When Living Hope began 10 years ago, I had no choice but to believe that verse. I was single, fresh out of college, 25 years old, with no experience. My resume showed several years of janitorial and lawn mowing, but nothing to do with leading a church let alone starting one. I was scarred into believing that verse. But I believed it. Every night, when I would lay there unable to sleep thinking of everything that had to be done that I did not know how to do, I would cry out, "Lord, I believe that nothing is impossible with you." All I can say, is that I watched God do the impossible! He is amazing! Praise Him!

Ten years later, to be honest, I often find myself just as scared. Now, I look back and think I was more equipped to start a church from nothing than to try to Pastor the great church you all are and will become. Now, I am driven to believe in that verse not out of fear, but out of necessity. This verse reminds me to work hard, do my best and then step aside and let God do what no amount of work and my very best could ever do and that is let him change our lives and then let him move through us to change the lives of others in our community, country and world.

I do not know why I am rambling on about this...this is truly some "random thoughts" today. I guess I have just been thinking a lot about the Christmas story and how God's coming to save the world required a few key, but extremely ordinary people like a Priest in the temple and a virgin teenage girl from Nazareth to be willing to believe, "For nothing is impossible with God."

And every Christmas, God seems to ask us again, "Do you believe? Do you still believe?" That is a question you will have to answer for yourself. As for me,all I can say is that the more God gives me the courage to believe that with him all things are possible it is amazing how much more I see God overcome the impossible. Merry Christmas!

"Unfriend"

The publishers of New Oxford Dictionary have deemed "unfriend" as the 2009 new word of the year. To unfriend means to remove someone from your friend list on a social network like Facebook or MySpace. Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford's US dictionary program said it is an excellent choice because of the word's, "currency and potential longevity." Now, we not only have a legitimate word for ending friendship, we also have the convenience of doing so simply with the click of a button. "Unfriending" someone in cyberspace is much less messy than having the guts to do so face to face.

And why would we ever unfriend someone? The answer to that question is easy enough. I unfriend someone who sees the world contrary than I, someone rubs me the wrong way or simply annoys me by their status updates. To unfriend someone Facebook or MySpace gives me permission to make friendship all about me. As long as the friendship gives me what feels good, then I keep you on my list, but say the wrong thing and without you even knowing it, I will unfriend you.

Now, I am all about healthy boundaries. And to be frank, there are some "friends" that are so unhealthy that they should have been unfriended a long time ago. However, one has to wonder if our culture has so turned friendship into "what's in it for me" that we are missing out on a key element. The true value of friendship is not just receiving what feels good, but being able to learn to love someone and be loved by someone even though our opinions differ, our personalities clash and view points are polar opposites. It is very interesting to me...in a day that so espouses the value of tolerance, we seem to be increasingly intolerant. Rather than see our differences as something to either work through or to learn to accept and still love one another, we have now created a word to legitimatize only keep friendships that always make me feel good or never challenge what I think.

While they New Oxford Dictionary may name "unfriend" the word of the year, the Christmas story of the Bible tells me that in God's vocabulary there is only one word that ever deserves to be named word of the year...if God was allowed to truly be in control of this world, our lives and of the church, then the same word would be named word of the year every year, "LOVE." The kind of love that loves like this: "You have heard that it was said 'Love your neighbors and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons and daughters of your Father in heaven," Jesus in Matthew 5:43-45. Well, when he puts it like that, it does not give us much room to leave the 2009 word of the year in our vocabulary, does it? At least not if we want to consider ourselves His sons and daughters.

"Dirty Windows"

The windows in my car have been dirty for over a year. I am not talking about the exterior, I mean they were dirty on the inside. How dirty were they? They were so dirty that even on a bright sunny day it looked like it was foggy and dreary outside. For over a year now, every time I would get in the car, I would think, "I have got to clean these windows." It was getting to the point that it was actually dangerous to drive at night...Yes, the windows were that dirty. I even told Kimberly, "I have got to clean these windows before it causes an accident."

And do you know what I found? This is very interesting...All my talking, all my promises, all my intentions and even me sharing this situation with my wife did not clean my windows. No matter how much I talked or thought about it, my dirty windows remained dirty. The only thing that cleaned my windows was when I stopped off yesterday to have my car washed and made the decision to have the inside of my car cleaned as well. When I left the car wash it was as though I was driving in a brand new car and seeing the world for the first time. I could actually, clearly see out my windows. I have to say I enjoyed driving a whole lot better, with clean windows. But again, for a year all my talking and thinking about it did not clean my windows. The only thing that cleaned my windows was when I made the decision to do something about it and then did it!

From where I sit, I see a lot of people who want to talk, think and even pray about their "dirty windows." They have dirty windows that they know are ruining their vision and dampening, if not destroying their lives. They are ready to recognize it and talk about it, but then Weeks, months, years go by and 20 years later they find themselves still talking about how they need to clean their windows, but their windows are dirtier than ever. And then, together we cry and say, "I have had dirty windows for 20 years, when is this ever going to change? Why won't God clean my windows?" The truthful answer is, "He never will. He won't clean your dirty windows as long as you are doing what I did with mine...talking, thinking, sharing, but making the decision to do nothing." James 4:17 puts it this way, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." To know that it is time to have our windows cleaned and make a decision not to is simply sin and all sin does is separate us farther and farther from the very one who can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. To be very honest, this side of ministry gets very discouraging...it is exhausting to see people you care about choose to live with dirty windows even after they have long since realized this is less than God's best for them.

However, what keeps me going is that for every person who chooses to live and perhaps even die or be killed by dirty windows, there are folks every week around here who stop talking about it and make the decision to pull into the car wash and do what they can so God can do what only he can do to clean their windows.

That is what this Friday night is about here at Living Hope as we are invited to gather with Celebrate Recovery for two hours of help and hope. This Friday night is for people like you and me who are honest enough to admit we have some dirty windows and are tired enough of living with them to make a decision to do something about it. And for those who make that decision...interestingly enough...positive change from God always comes...it may not be easy or fast, but those who make a decision to to what they need to do so God can do what he can only do always see God work.

So, how about you? Tired of trying to see through dirty windows. Join me and others this Friday at Living Hope from 6-8 PM (come anytime you can; child care provided). I'm telling you...it is so much better driving with clean windows!